My newest prooflike coin is also now my oldest! I am pleased to show this gorgeous piece of copper to you all. This is a 1770 Halfpence from Great Britain, minted under the rule of King George III. The American collectors among us may remember him because we whooped his butt twice, in 2 different wars. He also suffered from a variety of mental and physical ailments. You can watch a very entertaining and well made movie, called "The Madness of King George" to see more: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110428/ The present coin is a halfpenny, and it is quite large. It is slightly smaller than a US half dollar. It features the king on the obverse, and Britannia seated on the reverse. There are only 4 halfpennies graded PL for all of George III, 3 of them 1770, and one 1771. It appears that the dies were rusted, and then polished to remove the rust. You can see rust pitting in numerous places around the coin. It's also interesting to see just how much polishing was done in various places - Britannia seems to meld into the fields in a few places. The surfaces of this coin are incredibly hard to portray in a photograph, but they are distinctly reflective. My obverse shot shows this a bit better, but the reverse is equally reflective. The brown copper eats light, but it is an attractively patinated, completely original coin. NGC graded it MS-64 BN PL. I'm pleased to add this gorgeous coin to my collection!
That is a most beautiful example of the George III half penny! Pristine surfaces, extremely sharp details and with reflectivity visible on the obverse. I can well imagine the reverse is similarly reflective. It is conceivable that even if not intended as an official proof strike, this piece could well have been intended as a presentation piece. Viewing your coin I had to think of this 1787 Vermont copper in my collection. If you allow, physics-fan3.14 I am posting it here for comparison. I hope it is OK. The design is identical to your coin, but of course the legends are different. A very crude rendition of the British halfpence, made half a world away, in a small building, ("about 16 by 18 feet, made of rough materials, sided with unplaned and unpainted boards") in a corner of the small town of Ruppert, Vermont. This coin is in extremely fine condition for the variety. In fact, it seems to have circulated very little.
I had a chance to buy a virtually perfect Gem 1797 penny back in '95 for next to nothing. I suppose it's a $2000 coin now days.
That is actually a really cool comparison, @Eduard . You can clearly see that it was based on the same design, but really interesting how crude it is by comparison.
Tried a new edit of the obverse photo, because I wasn't happy with the original. This is much better:
didn't notice my mispelling....I meant, I LOVE PL coins. You have a great collection physics fan, keep it up!
physics-fan 3.14. Nice specimen of the porphyria King. I did a quick scan online. One page said - In 1770 King George III was 32 years old. - Good man in private morals. - Bad ruler. - Stubborn and lustful for power. - Elsewhere it said - Nurse : Sir, you've been in a coma since 1970. George III : How are my colonies doing ?
